Month-long investigation in Hudson leads to cocaine bust

Thursday

Apr 10, 2014 at 6:45 AM

By Jeff MalachowskiDaily News Staff

HUDSON Ė After a month-long drug investigation, detectives arrested a Lawrence man on cocaine possession and distribution charges after officers found more than 200 grams of pre-packaged cocaine in his car, police said.During the past month, detectives conducted extensive surveillance of an area in town where drug deals were taking place and pulled over Pedro Lara-Mendez, 46, as he left the scene, said Police Chief David Stephens.Stephens declined to identify the location of the drug deals because the investigation is ongoing.A search of Lara-Mendezís vehicle found two containers, one containing 35 pre-packaged bags of cocaine and a single larger bag containing a larger amount of the drug and another container with 22 pre-packaged bags of cocaine. The combined weight of the drugs in both containers was in excess of 200 grams, said Stephens.The value of the cocaine is estimated to be between $18,000 and $20,000, said Stephens.During the booking process, Lara-Mendez provided materials identifying him as William Cruz-Guevara. When checking the suspectís fingerprints, officers found the documents identifying him as William Cruz-Guevara were fraudulent and the fingerprint scan revealed his true identity as Pedro Lara-Mendez, said Stephens.Lara-Mendez is charged with trafficking cocaine over 200 grams, possession of a cocaine, possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, providing a false name to police and misleading a police investigation, said Stephens.Lara-Mendez was held on $100,000 bail during his arraignment, said Stephens.Jeff Malachowski can be reached at 508-490-7466 or jmalachowski@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @JmalachowskiMW.